


To Stay

by ijustwantacue



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 10:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15362808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijustwantacue/pseuds/ijustwantacue
Summary: Your best friend, Prince Mark, will be choosing his bride.





	To Stay

You don’t mind the scolding call of your mother or the disapproving looks of the old maids. Holding the skirt of your gown, you practically run to look for Mark. Of course, your high heeled shoes don’t let you maximise your speed, but you don’t have to anyway. After hearing that your family is arriving, Mark comes down of his room to greet you, and so you meet him halfway at the ballroom.

“Mark!” you call, face breaking into a smile at the sight of your best friend. He opens his arms for you, and you jump into them without hesitations.

You’ve known him since you were little. His country is the closest to yours so your parents and his often have friendly afternoon meetings. Mark is older than you by five years, so he was one of the first people to see you after you were born. The age gap didn’t stop you two from being thick as thieves. As he is the third in line for the throne, he wasn’t strictly being trained how to run the kingdom. He spent more of his time playing with you, the princess who’s too young to learn anything. And even when you started taking etiquette lessons and learning the history of the kingdoms, he still comes by to support you and even explain to you some technical things you couldn’t get.

Your friendship with him is too deep to be stopped by your mother’s fake cough to get your attentions. But it makes you let go of the hug and create the respectable distance your mother keeps on reminding you.

“Your Majesty,” Mark addresses your mother as he takes her hand to kiss her knuckles.

“It’s good to see you Mark. Though I think I’ve seen you just two weeks ago at our princess’s birthday party? I’m not sure I remember it right because it looks like you’ve missed each other a lot already.”

You blush at your mother’s words. While it isn’t a big deal for you to do gestures with Mark, as he’s been with you all of your life, having someone else think of them differently still makes you feel embarrassed. You’re not a stranger to rumours that you and Mark might be a couple in the making, that he’s just waiting for you to turn of age before asking for your hand. But you’ve never felt Mark romantically interested in you. He’s been constant all of your life and the way he looks at you never changed.

“He’s my best friend, Mother,” you only reason, finding it suspicious if you get too defensive and also reminding yourself that it’s your position in his life. No amount of hushed stories from the maids or your own feelings can change that fact.

“Alright. Just remember why we’re here. Once Mark has chosen his bride, you cannot act that way anymore. It will be disrespectful and simply unacceptable.”

Suddenly, you feel little. You completely forgot the fact that you’re here for a party where Mark will dance with all eligible ladies and choose his bride among them. Mark is already on the age of marriage and is expected to find a wife soon enough. His parents have never seen him interested in any other girl, so they decided to hold the ball.

You were first to arrive since your country is the closest.

“Hey,” you feel Mark’s hand gently patting your head. It’s something he likes doing since you were just a toddler. It’s a brotherly gesture, so it makes you guilty when your heart skips a few beat thinking of it otherwise. “You’re still my princess even after we get married.”

You want to cry. That statement just proves that he sees you as a younger sibling at most. It also reminds you that not only Mark will marry someone else but you, soon you also have to marry someone else but him.

“And you’ll always be my prince,” you reply, the words rolling of your tongue swiftly as it’s the truest thing in the world.

The truth that makes your heart break a little, but brings a smile to Mark.

* * *

The halls are filled with light and music as the party officially starts. You stay at the farthest part of the room, distracting yourself with a goblet of wine. Since you’ve just turn of age two weeks ago, you’ve never really tasted the beverage before. The first was at your birthday, and you wondered why people drink it. It’s sweet but it makes you feel lightheaded, thoughts in disarray. Now you’re in a situation that makes you understand why adults need it sometimes. It distracts you from the ache of now.

“What are you doing here? The party is at its peak,” you hear a man’s voice from your right.

Leaning against the wall is Prince Jackson from a country across the sea. He’s come to your castle a lot of times too, since he likes travelling. You just like Mark more than him so you never really let yourself get to know the vagabond prince.

“I may ask the same, Your Highness. Aren’t you supposed to go around and have fun with the ladies?”

He throws back his head in laughter, knowing full well what the maids have been saying about him. He may be from a far away country, but news like those travel far. “I made a bit of reputation, didn’t I? Does that bother you?”

You shrug. “I don’t think it’s any of my concern.”

“Well, it would be when you’re selecting the gentleman you will marry. You might throw my application away just because of the rumours.”

You sip on your drink instead of answering. You badly need a distraction.

Jackson notices your discomfort on the marriage topic, so he changes target. “You’re close with Prince Mark, correct? Who do you think will he choose?”

You grimace, the wine tasting sour all of a sudden. You turn to Jackson with a stone face. “I do not interfere with the affairs of his heart.”

“Really? I thought as his best friend, you would know? Princess Lou right there has been telling everyone that she will most likely be picked since he has seen Mark most among any other ladies.”

You can’t help but let a laugh get out. Princess Lou is imaginative.

“Oh, you disagree? Why? Is she wrong?” Jackson asks with a playful tone, and you know he’s just pushing the words out of you.

“I don’t know if she’ll be picked, but you and I know who has seen Mark most than any person in these giant ballroom.”

Jackson picks up a goblet of wine on the table beside him and offers it to you for a clink. “That would be you.”

“That would be me,” you confirm, letting your goblet touch his briefly.

“So why don’t you think you would be chosen?” he asks without any filter to protect your feelings.

Your eyebrow shoots up. “Why did you think I won’t choose you?”

Jackson smirks. “Because the rumours are true.”

You nod. “Because the rumours are true.”

* * *

You spend the rest of the night in Jackson’s company. He tells you about his travels, sometimes oversharing his escapades and making you blush. While you certainly wouldn’t consider him as marriage partner after hearing all those stories, you find a friend in him. All these years you’ve been with Mark who feels superior of you, so it’s nice to be with someone who has less care of the world.

“You know what? We should dance. The party is almost over but I haven’t seen you dance yet,” he suggests with a grin.

You giggle. “If this is your way of making me the next Princess Franchelle, don’t even try.”

“No way! It’s not like you will reach up and bite my ear.”

“No way really!” you say before taking the arm he’s offering.

He leads you to the dancefloor and positions by the middle. You are all smiles as he starts swaying you to the melody of the waltz. You should get used to this. Once Mark marries, you’ll have to find company with someone else. You’ll also have to dance with strangers on the ball where you’ll choose who to marry.

“Don’t look now, but someone is storming to our direction with fiery eyes,” Jackson whispers.

“Is it one of the princesses you left at morning?” you joke.

“How I wish it’s just them. Prince Mark,” he greets the man behind you before pulling you to his side so you can both greet the host.

You don’t understand why Mark is looking at you that way. Jackson may have exagerrated the description, but Mark’s eyes do look questioning. The usual smile on his face is gone, making you nervous.

“Prince Jackson, may I steal my princess for a second?” Mark asks, though his gaze remains on you. You don’t comprehend his words, lost in his eyes.

“Of course,” Jackson says, giving your hand to Mark. “It’s your duty to go and dance with all princesses anyway. You’ll particularly enjoy this one.”

You want to shoot a warning glare at Jackson, knowing that he’s teasing you. But you feel Mark’s grip tight on your hand and the slight but powerful pull he does to make you go beside him. You don’t even notice Jackson smoothly going through the crowd, leaving you and Mark the only ones not dancing.

“Is it my turn?” you ask, trying to stay nonchalant.

Mark doesn’t say anything; he just positions you in front of him and holds the small of your back. He pulls you close to him, with only your big skirt hindering you two from leaning against each other.

Mark starts taking side steps, and you just follow. You hope he doesn’t notice how your hands are shaking.

“You looked like you’re having fun,” he finally says. His voice is trying to sound happy, but his eyes remain cold.

“Prince Jackson has a lot of stories to offer,” you answer with a smile. But Mark isn’t more pleased. His eyes are like when you almost got hurt trying to ride a horse. He’s scolding you because you didn’t do as asked, but there’s a hint of worry in them.

Very brotherly. You want to sigh in defeat.

“How’s the ladies? Princess Lou has been positive that you will choose her. Should I go and break the news to her?” you try to joke but your tone sounds bitter

“Don’t go anywhere else,” he simply says, pulling you even closer to him.

You find yourself nodding. This might be the last intimate dance you can have with Mark. Once he marries, you can’t as much as look at him for more than five seconds.

The lights go off, making some ladies gasp.

“What’s going on?” you ask, your hand involuntarily going to Mark’s arms. You feel him remove your hold so you frown. “Mark?”

“Don’t go anywhere else.”

You feel him walk away from you. Your heart sinks. Why is he leaving you in the middle of the dark room? Why doesn’t he want you to move? What is happening? Murmurs are filling the room, drowning you.

Suddenly, light shines on the thrones elevated with a flight of stairs. Mark is standing on his place, but another empty chair is beside him.

“We are all gathered tonight for the search of my bride,” Mark says. The pleasantries before the party is enough, so he’s going straight to the point. “I want you to know that I’ve already made up my mind. I found who I want to spend my life with. I’ve actually been with her all this time.”

Your eyes widen. You try to keep your heart calm but you’re not stupid not to get it. So are the rumours not true at all? Are you not on a one-sided love with your bestfriend?

You start walking towards where he is.

“I’ve been in love with someone all these years. I don’t even know when it started because it’s like when I first saw her, my heart knew she’s the one. But of course, I wouldn’t have realised it at a young age. It’s only earlier, when I saw her with someone else, someone who isn’t me, that I realise how I can’t take that.”

So that’s why he’s almost killing Jackson with his glare. You would’ve thought he was being protective because Jackson is known for breaking ladies’ hearts.

“So I would like you all to know that I have chosen my bride and it will be Princess–”

You look back and see a spotlight hitting the place where Mark left you earlier.

“Uh… Mark, I’m here,” you call, already in front of the crowd near the thrones.

Mark finds you even if it’s dark and he can’t help but laugh. The spotlight moves to shine on you, and you can only shyly wave at the other royals.

“Baby, you’re such a troublemaker,” you hear him say as he descends the stairs. You watch him approach you, your heart all warm and in relief. He reaches you and quickly envelopes you in an embrace. “I told you not to go anywhere else.

"Then you shouldn’t have left me.”

Another laugh comes out from him as he pats your head. He stares at you dearly, the anger earlier dispersing. “So are you accepting my proposal?”

“I even walked in the middle of the dark to find you. Of course, I’m accepting.”

Applause fills the room, making you remember that other people are celebrating with you. You smile at everyone, bowing as thanks for their support.

“I told you you’ll still be my princess after we get married. That’s because we will get married,” he explains.

“I didn’t know. But I also didn’t lie. I told you you’ll always be my prince. Because even if you marry someone else, no one can have your place in my heart.”

A shy smile crosses his features. “I should thank Jackson for making me jealous. I wouldn’t have had the courage to ask your hand.”

“Yeah. Should we go and thank him now?” you ask, taking a step to go to your new friend.

But Mark’s effortless pull makes you bounce. “No. Your place is beside me. I may not be as fun as Jackson but at least I’m never going to leave.”

You smile and hold his hand properly, fingers intertwined. “Don’t worry, Mark. I have learned to stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> As requested by an anon on Tumblr.


End file.
